Nigeria builds houses of plastic

While oceans of plastic float across the great seas of our world, there are some places that plastic is also covering huge amounts of land. One of these is Nigeria, known for its plastic garbage filled streets.

Another thing that is lacking in Nigeria is houses. There is a serious housing shortage in the land. But the Development Association for Renewable Energies (DARE) – an NGO based in Nigeria – decided to try and combine those two troubles into one solution. With the assistance of African Community Trust, a London-based NGO, it built a two-bedroom bungalow entirely out of plastic bottles.

Although many in Kaduna, state capital of Kaduna State in north-central Nigeria, were dubious when the project began construction in June this year, it is showing its success with results. The nearly complete home is bullet and fireproof, earthquake resistant, and maintains a comfortable interior temperature of 17 degrees Celsius year round. This was achieved by collecting Hundreds of plastic bottles that were then filled with sand and linked together at the neck by an intricate network of string. The bottles were then strategically laid and packed down with a combination of mud and cement, creating a building material that dare to claim it is stronger than concrete blocks. Dare claims that this project has the potential to not only improve the housing shortage, but clean up the streets as well.